The Forgotten Ring-Bearer
by Will-I-Was
Summary: After Isildur and before Smeagol, one more held the ring. His mind was weak but his will was powerful as he slowly began to fall into shadow.
1. Chapter 1

The Forgotten Ring-Bearer

Chapter 1- Quite By Accident

It is the year 2463 of the 2nd age. The king of Gondor, Isildur, son of Elendil has passed away….

_It is a day of mourning for the people of Minas Tirith and indeed all of the realm of Gondor, we were scouting near the Anduin and discovered his corpse floating in the shallows, he had met as end at the tips of three arrows, most likely drawn from a Orc bow…_

"It is a grim day indeed sir." Malen laments with sorrow as he shuts the lifeless eyes of our once great king.

"He must have floated far downstream before ending up here, the rangers so far have not seen any signs of recent battle." Another soldier replies as he helps two other soldiers wrap the body in cloth. "We must return him to Minas Tirith."

"He is re-united with Elendil." Malen says sadly as he sprinkles Athelas herbs onto Isildurs body before they wrap him in the linen. "Where are the others?" He asked looking around the riverbed.

"I sent them downstream sir, just in case there were any signs of orcs nearby." A heavily armoured soldier said gruffly as he stood watch near the road.

"Well call them back, the road is not safe and we have urgent news to deliver." Malen asks quickly.

"Yes sir." The soldier bows as he marches down the riverbank.

Malen looks around the lake and the nearby tree line. "Thus ends the line of royalty." He bows his head as he assists the other soldiers with the body of their late king.

Further on down the Anduin, two Ithilien rangers scour the riverbank and nearby ground for any signs of recent life, good or otherwise.

This is where my part in the story begins… My name is Kilaran, I am a ranger of Numenorean descent hailing from the land of Gondor, today marks a terrible day as the last in the line of Elendil has been cut down. We were tasked with searching the area with any hope of tracking his killers, but I am afraid it is hopeless, the body showed signs of considerable festering since death, but still we search.

I look around the edge of the water, whilst the other ranger looks further onto the bank. My keen eyes see nothing until….

Until… A small glint of gold from the water. I look in fascination as I find myself, without thinking, reaching into the water to grab the item. It is not too far into the water as I scoop it into my palm from the bottom of the shallow water.

I finally see the object that had caught my eye… A gleaming, golden ring.

It was beautiful. I found myself entranced as I moved it around my palm, I was enamoured as I began to stare at the golden surface of this enchanting piece of jewellery.

"Have you found anything Kilaran?!" The ranger shouted from afar, I jump slightly and closed my hand around the ring.

"I have found nothing I am afraid." Little did I know that the simple lie had sealed my fate, if I had known before, when I first picked it up, if only I had known what it was capable of doing.

After days of riding, we finally reached the safety of Minas Tirith, greatest city of Gondor according to Malen, my captain, we held a royal funeral as we admitted Isildur's body into the burial chamber where lay all the kings of Gondor and now our king was Amongst them, never to be disturbed again.

There was no feasting that night, nor any kind words spoken. Everyone was too grief stricken. I suppose I felt a slight pang of sadness, especially now that the line is broken and would end up with a steward sitting next to the throne, thinking himself royalty.

Despite recent events, my mind was still focusing on the object resting in my pocket, I hadn't noticed it but I rarely took my hand out of my pocket. I felt a trifling need to check of the ring I had found was still there, it seemed of great value and I was eager to sell it.

Even in the wake of the funeral, the markets were still open as a convenience spot to the citizens, I had changed out of my ranger robes and was now walking towards the stall where fine items were exchanged, sold and bought. I walked up, ready to hold out the ring and let the vendor assess its worth.

But something was wrong.

I didn't know why but I felt as though an invisible force was preventing me from letting anyone else hold it, I felt irritated at the thought of this merchant holding something so valuable. I decided to quickly walk back to my room on the 6th level of the city. I slammed the door behind me and sat down with my head in my hands.

I groaned in discomfort. "I wont sell it." I said to myself. "I wont sell it." I kept repeating it as I walked onto the stone balcony. Then I quietly took the ring from my pocket and looked again in awe as if I had just picked it up. There was something about it, that made me want to keep it on me and never let it go.

I looked out over the balcony, across the fields of the Pelennor and at the mountain border of Mordor. I had dark memories of that foul place. The very air we breathed throughout the battle was poisonous, and our enemies were beyond count. If it were not for the elves we had never stood a chance at the Black Gate.

And then he showed.

Sauron, the dark Maia, the servant of Morgoth. Arrived on the field of battle, all he soldiers nearest including myself stood in terror as he towered above us, he spoke no words and made no sound and giving no warning as he lifted his terrible mace and swung it in an arc.

Never in my existence had I witnessed such power. One swing of the dark lords mace send entire battalions flying as though they were leaves in the wind. Myself and many others found ourselves involuntarily moving backwards rapidly until…

Elendil our then king of Gondor, bravely charged the armoured behemoth sword drawn, the monster simply swept him aside like an author sweeping away a sheet of crumpled paper. His son and our prince, Isildur faced Sauron alone, all seemed lost as the dark lord destroyed Elendil's swords. We all looked on in sheer fright as Sauron leaned forward to end Isildur's life.

Then all of a sudden, the creature screamed in pain and leaped back, he began to light up. The light becoming more bright and the wind around us picking up. We all braced as an almighty flash clouded our vision and a unrelenting force sent us barreling onto our backs.

We found our feet and looked at the remainder of the greatest evil middle earth had known. Sauron, our greatest fear had been defeated and his power undone. The elf lord Elrond and Isildur went up to the mountain, but no one knew why. After the battle I had been promoted to a ranger, but the hardships of that battle remained and the damage done to us by the enemy was great, even more so with the death of our last king.

I couldn't get the image of Sauron out of my head. It felt as though Sauron himself was here, I hadn't felt his presence in a long time. I then felt back into my pocket and touched the ring.

I smiled contently. I was very fond of this little ring, I took it out of my pocket and held it up to the moonlight.

I felt a sudden flash come over my eyes, as I leaned against one of the stone pillars of the balcony and gasped in pain.

What in the name of Arda was that?

It happened again and the image of an eye flashed quickly in front of me. I then heard a faint, throaty whisper. I groaned in pain as I held my head.

_I see you_

I heard this in a long drawn out way, at that point I had never felt this much afraid. I looked around my room.

_I see you_

"Arrrgh!" I screamed as I fell to my knees, dropping my ring in the process, and at that point the voice went away.

I got back on my feet and looked around. At that point one of the maids burst into the room. "My lord, what is wrong!" She asked in a panicked tone.

I had to make up a false reply. I couldn't begin to explain what was going through my head. "I am well milady, it has just been a very stressful day."

The maid smiled slightly. "I heard you were one of the rangers who found him in the Anduin."

I nodded sadly. I may have been fearless as a ranger is. But being in the company of death is no easy task.

"I am sorry. I cant imagine what you must be going through."

I smiled. The maidens name was Mae, a lovely young woman in her own right.

She then smiled bigger, she looked amorous. "I have just finished work my lord, would you be interested in some comfort?"

I smiled back as she inched closer and touched her lips to mine. "It would be a pleasure milady."

The remainder of the night was pleasant as expected, but my dreams were much more different. As I lay with Mae, wrapped in my sheets. I woke with a small gasp. Thankfully she hadnt been woken despite stirring.

I looked over to the bedside table to see if it was still there.

The ring remained where I left it. I picked it up with my available hand and touched the ring to my lips. "I love you." I absentmindedly said to the ring as I held it closer.

"Mmm I love you too." Mae drearily replied.


	2. Chapter 2

The Forgotten Ring-Bearer

Chapter 2- Slow &amp; Strong

_''Diary of Gondor Ranger Kilaran,_

_It is the year 2463 of the 2nd age, I reside in Minas Tirith, a safe haven like Imladris. However, since my last mission recovering our fallen king, I have come into the possession of an object which I believe to be of an unknown power, I don't know what it is, from looking one would call it a ring, but I see more when I gaze into the mesmerising glare of the rings gold, I feel as though nothing else matters, the hand-maiden Mae offered her heart to me, but this ring keeps calling me back every time I put it back, I call it a paranoid episode, but I feel as though it is talking to me, beckoning me to hold it and move it around my finger tips…_

_It has been a month since I found it and I feel oddly afraid to put the ring on, I fear what mystery that lies behind this ring will uncover if I put it on, I am afraid of what may be…. But no one else will ever see it or look upon it, I have begun to suspect that my fellow rangers know of my ring and want to take it from me, one claimed I looked "Drained and fatigued" He knows no what he says, I am fine._

_This ring is mine and no one will have it but me…_

_It is mine….."_

Myself and the remainder of the rangers have been called to the barracks near the front gate, we are being briefed for a mission near the dead marshes, apparently some orcs have been spotted and we have been tasked with killing them all with stealth if possible, force is necessary. I walked from my room, feeling around my rations pouch and keeping my left index finger touched upon the ring, I felt an animalistic need to keep it safe, and it seemed to be growing stronger with each passing day.

The briefing was short and simple and our band was dispatched on foot towards the retched bog. The horrific memories of that evening on the wet fields, seeing so much death on both sides and the corpses of my fallen brothers sinking into the bog as if they were being claimed, I had heard the stories and rumours from elf traders and had written them off as false.

I sincerely hope that for once the elves are wrong.

"Stay weary men, remember they number more than 10 and they are fully armed." Whispered the ranger leader as we trudged through the marshes of the dead, ''Don't follow the lights." The captain said again. And as if on cue a distant splashing was heard as the ranger on rear guard was grabbed by an unknown force nearby one of the deadly forces and dragged underneath the dark and cloudy water to join his dead fellows. "Haleth!" One of the rangers shouted as he darted forward to try and aid his fellow, it was too late.

"No boy, his curiosity made him follow the lights and now he has paid the price for his foolishness, we must all keep calm and keep focused." The captain said, although I could hear fear in his voice, I kept looking at all the faces of the dead orcs, elves and men, some I recognised, some I never knew.

The danger of the swamp was brought to life as several arrows sailed through the air straight into our company spearing several rangers and impaling my right hand, I screamed in agonising pain. An orc arrow is a deadly projectile as the orcs take to coating their arrow tips with morgul poisons. The were capable of killing, crippling or even turning anyone unfortunate enough to be speared by one, most of the rangers had already drawn swords and were battling, I had lost my footing and fell backwards into the nearby water, to what I believed was certain death.

Death and fate had other plans for me as the ring in my pocket, which I still had my left hand on at the time and the other hand with the arrow still impaled through it, slipped onto my index finger. As I struggled to surface, I saw the terrifying malformed spectres of the casualties of the war surround me, but they took no notice as I frantically swam upwards, the weight of my gear hindering me.

I finally surfaced and clawed my way onto the bank, coughing up water and rubbing my eyes with my good hand. I then realised around me orcs stood examining the dead bodies of my comrades, but like the spirits in the water, they too ignored me as if I was invisible. I then looked to my ringed finger as I got up.

So this was the power I sensed I thought as I quickly snapped the arrow in my hand into, the pain bought tears to my eyes as I bit into my sleeve, I wrapped a wet bandage around the gaping wound to stop the blood, but I felt that death would soon take me in the form of poison. I stood up and looked around at what the world looked like from the rings perspective, everything was windy and murky, I could see the orcs and I felt anger rise as they laughed and searched through the bodies of the rangers, I decided to use this rings power to my advantage as I walked towards the orcs with my dagger drawn.

The orcs began to panic as an unseen force was slitting the throats of their fellows, with the last panicking orc dropping dead to the wet, slimy floor. I removed the ring and watched the world go back to the way my eyes usually saw it. I gave my rites of passage to my fallen brothers, gathered their provisions and made my way back to the safety of my city.

_"Good, use the power to manipulate and instil fear."_

I had returned to Minas Tirith, gave my report, was nursed back to health as the doctors took the wraps off my hand to discover I was healed. "I thought you said an arrow had pierced you?" The doctor asked in confusion.

I couldn't find the words as I looked at my hand, for two days on the return journey I never dared check my wound, little did I know it had healed somehow. "If what you told us was true, you should have died days ago. Its almost like something is keeping you alive, you are incredibly lucky, Kilaran." The doctor looked suspicious and I felt this urge to reach for my dagger, before he winked and laughed.

I just nodded as I was dismissed back to my room for rest I had earned after my experience, if the doctor had caught on to my possession of this magical ring, I don't know what I would have done, if others ended up finding out they would want to look at it and even try to steal it. At this thought I grew angry and punched the nearest wall in frustration.

"Its mine!" I yelled unknowingly, which probably disturbed the rest of others, but I did not care. No one else had gone through this much pain, he deserved this respite.

_"Its all yours, and no one elses." _A raspy and seductive voice that rang in my head, now I was scared that voice hadn't been heard by me for a while, not since I first came into contact with the ring, why was he, or it, speaking to me now?

I felt as though I was dreaming, I wish I was after all of this. Along with invisibility was this ring granting me invulnerability…..


End file.
